Soul Asylum is set to perform on Thursday, August 6 at Summit Music Hall with Meat Puppets. These days, casual fans know Soul Asylum more as a soft-rock band because of its 1992 hit, “Runaway Train.” But Soul Asylum, like many other Minneapolis-based bands then and now, has always resisted easy classification…
On Saturday, August 1, Khemmis unleashes the physical copies of its debut full-length, Absolution, on 20 Buck Spin at the hi-dive. The four-piece came together in Denver at the end of 2012 when bassist Dan Beiers spotted recent transplant Ben Hutcherson’s Craigslist ad and got in touch. The ad featured…
David J is scheduled to DJ at Lipgloss on Friday, July 31. Born David J. Haskins, David J is perhaps best-known to music fans as the bassist and sometime singer in influential post-punk bands Bauhaus and Love and Rockets. Haskins is also an accomplished author whose plays have garnered critical…
Bob Drake is playing his first-ever all-solo show in nearly four decades of performing music internationally. Hardly a pop star, Drake is nevertheless a legend in Denver avant-garde music circles and an accomplished sound engineer whose production flourishes grace the work of mainstream artists. He grew up in Ohio and…
Perhaps the most unusual act of this past weekend’s Underground Music Showcase was Magic Sword. This mysterious trio hails from Boise, Idaho and the two musicians perform incognito while a third member handles the projections in a way that is far from obvious. “I try to set up in a way…
In certain circles, conventional wisdom holds that there is a “Denver sound” — the Gothic Americana embodied by the likes of 16 Horsepower, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, The Denver Gentlemen and whatever project of Jaysun Munly’s you’d care to name. Absurdly enough, some people even try to place all kinds…
Jana Hunter has helped make some of the most fascinating music of the past decade. Having joined in numerous collaborations — including a peripheral involvement playing with the legendary Houston noise/psych band Indian Jewelry as well as Sharon Van Etten and CocoRosie – she’s contributed considerably to the world of…
When the UMS line-up was first coming together, I had no intention of attending. There were so many reasons not to go. The last two years’ shows have been diabolically crowded, and there are always other, less packed places to see local bands. Besides, summer in Denver of late has…
Melt-Banana brings its manic and disorienting noise punk back to Larimer Lounge this Friday, July 24. Melt-Banana is pretty much impossible to forget — its shows are such an electrifying barrage of sounds and dynamics. To the group’s credit, it looks like it’s unleashing personal demons on stage as well…
The Underground Music Showcase launches on Thursday, July 23 and runs through Sunday, July 26 in various venues, from as far north as 6th Avenue to Alameda. The yearly festival, originated by the Denver Post, brings together a huge array of local and touring bands, and the event as a whole…
For a year and a half, Kaji was mostly a secret band that singer Kevin Gentry was developing. Kaji’s debut show, on January 30, 2015, at Syntax Physic Opera, unveiled a fully formed project, with guest musicians and backup singers. Without any official promotion, just word of mouth among friends,…
There were serious Denver connections at this weekend’s Melvins show. Andrew Novick did one of his GetYourGoing slide shows to start off the night. The affable and intelligent Novick can be found at all sorts of events, including his own a pop-up ramen shop, a Beyond Thunderdome-themed party and —…
Jim White is a music legend — if you don’t know him, you probably still know his work. As the drummer in Dirty Three, White came to prominence in the ’90s alternative rock world. He became known as a gifted and intuitive percussionist and regularly worked with the likes of…
The drive to Conifer for the Living Spaces showcase offered a preview of the spirit and quality of the event. To get there, you took I-70 to highway 285, into a neighborhood without pavement called Aspen Park, a small town next to Conifer. While they weren’t quite log cabins, the…
Thursday | October 23rd, 2014 | Chicago, Illinois: Going into Illinois, we had to pass through the largest truck stop in the United States, equipped with full showers, laundromat and what seemed to be a kind of mini-mall where you could get stuff you will likely never find at even a…
In October 2014, Denver-based industrial/avant-garde band Echo Beds embarked on a tour of the American Midwest. Without a booking agent — working instead with friends and friends of friends — members Keith Curts and Tom Nelsen were able to put together a resoundingly successful tour that paid for itself. But…
The last time Steely Dan played in Colorado, in 2013, a flash flood struck parts of the Denver metropolitan area and it rained like mad on and off. Much of the crowd bailed on the show and the relatively small group remaining moved forward as it could to, as someone…
Steely Dan and Elvis Costello & the Imposters will perform together tonight at Red Rocks. Perhaps today, the pair share a status as FM radio rock legends from another era, making them reasonable playlist companions. But they still seem to occupy very different musical worlds. Steely Dan has come to…
Winning a Best New Artist Grammy is often the kiss of death for a group that aspires toward commercial success. But that was not the fate of the Zac Brown Band, which won the prestigious award in 2010. The group has only continued to raise its profile since then, not…
The Babysitters are playing their final show this Friday, July 3, at the Walnut Room, with …and the Black Feathers and Super Phoenixes. The latter is Babysitters’ singer and primary songwriter Greg Hill’s new band. Hill has a real gift for a good bad joke and deadpan-humor observations — all of…
Instant Empire (scheduled to release a new album with a show this Thursday at the Marquis) played one of the first slots at the Westword Music Showcase last weekend. Most rock bands play at night, and most people experience music that they actively seek out after the sun has already…
The Seattle-based rock band Chastity Belt made its second Denver appearance at Dryer Plug Studios over the weekend. (The first was in 2013, when the group played with Pony Time at Rhinoceropolis.) This time, at least half the band members discarded their shoes while performing. The way the they interacted…
