From 1963 until March 15, 2008 The Cricket On The Hill (located at 1209 East 13th Avenue) was a dive bar that hosted bands of pretty much every conceivable genre and level of notoriety. Denver’s godfathers of noise Page 27 played there — so did nearly every other band in…
Fresh off a two-week tour, Itchy-O was still clearly in well-toned performance condition on Saturday night at the Mercury Cafe. The band has always had a strong physical presence, and that, coupled with its mysterious, musical cultist appearance, means the thirty-plus member outfit is impossible to ignore or forget. But…
Bright Channel was one of the most widely respected bands in the Denver underground scene during its relatively short existence. From February 2002 through the fall of 2007, the trio flooded small bars and large venues with its colossal sound. Though it would probably today be called a shoegaze band,…
This weekend, the hi-dive is celebrating eleven years of existence, with two years under its current ownership. When the club opened for business in the old location of 7 South and Quixote’s True Blue, it represented a sea change in places where one could see original, underground music. In its…
You may want to include Lipgloss at Beauty Bar in your Halloween plans this Friday for a DJ set with Cold Cave’s Wesley Eisold. It’s a fitting guest for the venerable party: while what often passes for goth today is very far removed from the music and subculture that laid…
In 2009 and 2010, Yuzo Nieto of Pink Hawks and Adam Gildar put together a festival of a different stripe: The concept was that Denver bands covered songs by their own favorite Denver bands. The result was an eclectic and affectionate affair featuring obscure and more well-known artists. The covers…
Steven “Steakhouse” Pampel and Jordan “Funny Biz” Polovina started Whiskey Blanket ten years ago, when they were still teenagers. Originally focused on beatboxing and keyboards, the two friends soon transitioned into rapping over live instruments. That change came about after they met Joe “Sloppy Joe” Lessard at a house party…
In the mid-2000s, guitarist Enrique Jimenez was playing outside the usual circuit of rock clubs and DIY spaces in town, on stages in northwest Aurora and southwest Denver. And that exploratory spirit has benefited his current band, Altas. Formerly known as Panal S.A. de C.V., Jimenez formed the band with…
Iceage (due this Sunday, October 26, at the Hi-Dive) from Copenhagen, Denmark made a splash when it first started playing in the U.S.A. over three years ago. Synthesizing the raw energy of hardcore with the moodiness of post-punk, Iceage was and still is an electrifying live act. Even then, though,…
Oko Tygra is one of the Denver bands representing the Mile High City at this year’s CMJ in New York City. The group is slated to play at Niagra on Wednesday, October 22. For a group that started in March 2014, getting selected for CMJ is certainly an achievement. For…
This edition of Concrete Mixer found a rare showing and audience at Newman Center for the Performing Arts for the Convocation for the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. Past editions of this event featuring live musique concrète have been held at The Walnut Room because of…
Saturday was a night of firsts at Hamsterdam. It was the first live show from Hippies Wearing Muzzles, the mostly modular synth project from Lee Evans, better known as the bass player in Kissing Party. It was probably the first cross-country performance art, found sound and lattice poem collaboration show…
The future of the music venue and bar known as The Sidewinder Tavern is currently up in the air. The building housing the establishment is on sale, two years after Sidewinder opened its doors. The hundred-year-old building has been home to numerous bars over the years. Both the business and…
Editor: Please see the Author’s note on this new photo-driven series at the end of this article. In this second part (read part one here) of the Underground Bands of Denver Music’s Dark Ages, we’re going to use a few bands of the era to spotlight some of the important…
In the late 1980s, it was nearly unheard of for Japanese underground rock bands to play in the United States. But Shonen Knife, appearing at the Oriental Theater this Thursday, October 16, played a show in Los Angeles in 1989. By then, the band’s music had already spent several years…
AKNU (pronounced “anew” and an acronym for A Kind Never Understood) is a Los Angeles-based pop and R&B trio of the brothers Scott — Marquis, Mark and Rayne. Together since 2008, AKNU came out of the early experiences of Marquis and Rayne who, as preteens, performed and toured professionally as…
Josh Ritter (due Saturday, October 11, at the Paramount Theater as part of Swallow Hill’s 35th Anniversary) is a gifted songwriter who has earned a bit of an international following for his imaginatively literate lyrics and simple yet sophisticated observational wisdom. In 2001, Ritter got a big break when he…
Mike Doughty will bring his Question Jar Show to the Walnut Room this Friday, October 10. He’s had… an exciting relationship with the songs that made him semi-famous as the front man of Soul Coughing, originally swearing off the material before recording an album of Soul Coughing “re-imaginings.” He’s got…
Editor: Please see the Author’s note on this new photo-driven series at the end of this article. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Denver music was in a time of transition. It was the local cultural equivalent of the Dark Ages. But like the more well-known Dark Ages, there…
Ralph Gean hasn’t played many shows in the last couple of years. So you might think the local rockabilly legend might be a little bit off his game. But that notion was quickly and handily dismissed over the weekend at Mutiny Information Cafe, when Gean got up in front of…
Wesley Davis has long been hosting his Textures series, with its focus on live ambient music. A couple of years ago, he used to host Textures in the basement of Gypsy House Café, but at the series’s new home, Mutiny Information Cafe, he doesn’t have to bring in a P.A.,…
There’s an Internet meme that tells you what band you’re probably into based on state. For Colorado, that band is Naked and Famous. In 2013 that band played at the Fillmore to a large crowd. That sort of mixture of rock and synth pop and R&B finds a different manifestation…
