Blending sounds from around the globe is nothing new for Pink Hawks, the Denver world-music powerhouse led by saxman and singer Yuzo Nieto. The band has pulled funky rhythmic influences from West Africa and South America, but the latest addition to its sound comes from much closer to home. That…
Despite being from Denver, producer and DJ Alex Warzel (who goes by Neon Brown and is now based in Oakland), says he never thought much of the city’s hip-hop scene. “I’ve never been into rappers from Denver at all,” he says. “I didn’t think hip-hop existed here.” But whenever he…
Waiting to get tickets for a show until the last minute can be a dicey proposition but Denver-based Ticket-Pulse hopes to make day-of ticket purchases not only easy but cheap as well. Ticket-Pulse, which has been up and running since mid-May, offers tickets to shows at area venues for up…
The 2015 iteration of Denver Black Sky festival looks to be a monster, with the announcement that Cleveland hardcore legends Ringworm will play the annual event alongside metal heavyweights Pig Destroyer and Skinless. The December 5 show at Englewood’s Gothic Theater will also feature some heavy hitters Havok, In The…
The Goldrush Music Festival is a great place for bands, new and old, to get publicity and make connections. But lat’s face it: Denver is a long way from most other big cities. It’s fifteen hours by van, for example, from Chicago, the home town of Crown Larks. The band…
The last two decades have been a time of extreme change for Tara Jane O’Neil, a singer/songwriter who is performing at Denver’s Goldrush Festival. In the ‘90s she cut her teeth in the Louisville, Kentucky, punk scene — one of the most active and vibrant in the country. Years later,…
Glancing at the lineup for this year’s Goldrush Music Festival it doesn’t take a music scholar to notice that one of the acts doesn’t quite fit in. Among the slew of acoustic and atmospheric artists sits Denver’s American Culture sticking out like a reverb-soaked soar thumb. It’s an observation the…
Categorizing music is inevitable, even necessary in some cases, but the desire to describe a band using predetermined genres sometimes has the effect of creating more questions than answers. Such is the case with Modern Goon, a three-piece Denver band that includes two high-school English teachers and members of now-defunct…
We’ve all been there. Maybe you’re at a sweaty club digging the close, hot vibe when your eyes meet for just a split second. Then it happens again. And again. But you don’t act on your instincts. Or you could be outside under that big, blue sky at Red Rocks,…
What’s left to be said about Ben Harper, the genre-blending, Grammy-winning, rock and blues monstrosity? Not a lot apparently. Despite playing what is bound to be a career-high show at Red Rocks on Tuesday Harper was less than verbose in our pre-show interview. Still, he managed to namedrop a slew…
It’s surprising how man people showed up early to the Taylor Swift concert Saturday night at the Pepsi Center. For most of these rabid fans, preparations for the event started a long, long time ago. Most bought tickets to the show, which ran Saturday and Sunday, months in advance. Others…
If you don’t know what to expect, a GWAR show can be a little disturbing. When the on-stage choreographed violence begins, and the first spurts of fake blood and semen begin streaming into the crowd, more than a few people become varying degrees of confused and disgusted. They’re finding out…
Sure, it’s probably smart to pace yourself when staring down the barrel of a three-day festival the goes until the wee hours. But Riot Fest gets going early and people showing up late to see System Of A Down or Ice Cube missed a lot of the fantastic day-one sets…
“You’ve got to know when to leave,” says Wesley Eisold, the singer for the semi-legendary Boston hardcore band American Nightmare. It’s a statement few of the band’s fans most likely would have agreed with in the summer of 2004 when American Nightmare abruptly cancelled a tour and then, the following…
The name Jake Smith may not ring any bells, but a lot of people are familiar with his music. For seven seasons, Smith, who performs as part of a trio under the moniker the White Buffalo, provided stark music for the FX original series Sons of Anarchy, which followed the…
“I’ve never understood the concept of writer’s block,” says Eric Bliss, lead guitarist for the Denver band Mako 1972. “When I sit down to write it’s easy. It’s not always good, but it’s easy. You’ve got this instrument in your hands that makes noise. Fuck around on it.” Bliss and…
It would be easy to dismiss Nick Cageao as a hired gun. After all, he didn’t join Mutoid Man, the psych-metal side project-turned-full-time-stunner from guitarist Steve Brodsky and drummer Ben Koller, until after the band released its blistering, ornate debut EP, Helium Head. But even the fact that Cageao is…
Back in 1992 the music world could not have been more myopic. Over the preceding few years, grunge had all but taken over the airwaves and youth culture in general. Grunge was a sound, a look and attitude, as well as a marketing tool that everyone wanted to exploit. Bands without…
Lightning Bolt may be the best live band you’ve never seen. Friday’s show at GLOB is sure to have made more than a few believers in the power of two guys, bass and drums and one tightly packed, sweaty throng of humanity. Now touring in support of their new album…
Being the torchbearer of the modern American doom metal movement can be a tough job, especially when you list Kansas as one of your favorite bands. But it makes sense, according to Pallbearer bass player and vocalist Joseph D. Rowland, who will be in Denver with his band this Sunday,…
Many months ago I was hired by a national music magazine to write a feature on Old Man Gloom, a supergroup of sorts featuring members of Converge, Cave In, Zozobra, Doomriders, Isis, Mammifer and more. I agreed and called the appropriate PR person to get a copy of their upcoming…
Some unlikely VIPs rolled into the back gate of Riot Fest on Friday, driven in a chartered bus from their high school in Byers, Colorado. In addition to the easy entrance and free ride, the young music fans, all teenagers, got free passes to the entire weekend-long festival courtesy of…
