Last week, we held the first of three Westword Music Showcase social hours. Times were had. I’ve spent the week listening to new music I discovered there, and I hope to find a bunch more at round two, which we’ll hold tonight. You’re welcome to join us from 5 p.m…
For the past 25 years, Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Englewood has been owned by the Museum of Outdoor Arts and operated under a single lease, most recently controlled by Live Nation. Last year, that lease expired, and AEG Live signed on to operate the venue for the next fifteen years…
Riot Fest has just announced its 2014 lineup, and it features Slayer, The Cure, Wu Tang Clan, Die Antwoord and more. The festival will make its second appearance in Denver (well, technically Byers, where the host May Farms is located) from September 19 to 21. A limited number of early…
Planet Bluegrass is a place that holds special significance, not just to fans — who line up days ahead of time for the ranch’s annual RockyGrass festival — but to the artists who play there. Partly that’s because of its setting: Tucked beside a cliff wall and the St. Vrain…
The Westword Music Showcase is less than two months away. On June 21, 130-ish Colorado bands and artists of every possible variety will play assorted venues around the Golden Triangle, and an outdoor stage on Acoma Street and 12th Avenue will host Diplo, 2 Chainz and more. We’ll announce the…
Robert Castro has spent over a decade running music blogs, so that’s about a lifetime in Internet years. He ran A Walking Disaster for a while, but school and work forced him to give it up around 2009. On a 2011 trip to SXSW, he got into a conversation with…
TaunTaun is a band of unusual provenance. Its members are all luminaries of the Denver music scene, but their other bands don’t sound much like each other, and they sound even less like TaunTaun. It was the musicians’ shared teenage love for ’80s metal that initially informed the group’s music,…
The 20th annual Westword Music Showcase is less than two months away. This year’s installment will be on June 21. It’s the day Denver music goes on vacation to the Golden Triangle, and I can go from watching a rapper to watching a punk band to watching a band with…
Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild will play one more time to determine who moves to the next round of the playoffs. In honor of the occasion, I got into an Internet debate with our favorite Minnesotan, Drew Ailes, that is somewhat about our state’s respective music scenes and…
For now, the story of Planet Bluegrass is about the floods and the devastation they brought to towns like Lyons. The storied venue sits nestled in the canyon, no small part of its appeal being that it does not have proximity to natural beauty so much as it is actually…
It is a strange sight to see Bun B step through the curtain at the Marquis Theater. He is the prime mover of Texas — or maybe even all Southern — hip-hop, on a short list of the most respected MCs still working, and a leader in his city. And…
Last month, we brought you the news that Swallow Hill Music would be booking this year’s summer concert series at the Arvada Center. That partnership becomes much clearer this morning with the full lineup announcement — in addition to previously announced artists including Judy Collins and Don McLean, the Center…
Last year, Sherwood Webber of Skinless put together a festival with a meticulous curatorial eye for aggressive music and no patience for gimmickry of any kind. The result was Denver Black Sky, which we named the best metal fest last month. The Fest returns this August with two days of…
The bar across the street from the Pepsi Center is a menagerie. The Arcade Fire show has just ended, and I am talking to a woman named Sarah who is dressed as a blackbird. Her husband, Tom, is wearing a fire-print onesie and a furry hood with ears. He has…
The library is a building that holds thousands of books. But that doesn’t describe the institution’s role. Libraries are our memories. They are the place where all the lines eventually connect, where you can trace the progress of time in every direction. With the library’s help, you can find the…
Riot Fest expanded its reach to Colorado last year, bringing The Replacements, Guided By Voices, FLAG and many more to May Farms. The Chicago-based festival, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, will return to Denver this fall with the help of local concert promotion company Soda Jerk Presents. Riot Fest…
Governor John Hickenlooper has been insisting that Denver has more music venues than Austin since he was mayor of Denver. It’s an interesting claim. But is it true? The two cities aren’t bad for comparison’s sake. The population of the city of Denver is a little over 634,000 people, with…
Let’s not bury the lede here: Southern hip-hop deity and generally awesome dude Bun B is playing a show at the Marquis Theater on April 27, with FL from the Foodchain and the Reminders, and you can get in the door for $5. So yes, that probably requires some backing…
As the previous infrastructure of the music industry collapses around us, individual artists and small groups are charged with an array of roles they never held before. Every band or artist must also find a way to either be her own manager, publicist, engineer, filmmaker, etc. or find a close…
The Denver Botanic Gardens has just announced its 2014 lineup, and it is hefty. Starting June 24 with March Cohn and Mavis Staples and concluding on September 6 with St. Vincent, the Garden’s two locations (on York Street and in Chatfield) will also host Joan Baez, Barenaked Ladies, B.B. King…
Colorado Governor John Hicknlooper has long been invested in the culture of the state. As Denver’s Mayor, Hickenlooper was a common sight at things like art gallery openings and concerts, and his roots in the community include co-founding Wynkoop Brewing Company in LoDo. He has spent the past three and…
So news is spreading quickly about this year’s Mad Decent Block Party, a fledgling festival tour heretofore specializing in the kinds of hip-hop and dance acts whose members were likely to be wearing floral print hats. It was mostly found in large clubs with outdoor spaces, that sort of thing…
