Meet 100(ish) of Denver’s best bands: Part two

Your new favorite band is from Denver — you just have to find it! No small task in a city with thousands of artists and hundreds of venues, we know — but you can start this weekend at the Westword Music Showcase. More than 140 of our favorite local artists…

Meet 100(ish) of Denver’s best bands: Part one

Your new favorite band is from Denver — you just have to find it! No small task in a city with thousands of artists and hundreds of venues, we know — but you can start this weekend at the Westword Music Showcase. More than 140 of our favorite local artists…

Photos: The costumes of Denver Comic Con

More than 85,000 people walked through the aisles of the Denver Comic Con over the weekend, according to the folks behind the rapidly growing convention, and a lot of them were in costume. Con cosplay, after all, is an art unto itself, featuring hand-built costumery that can sometimes take months…

The eight best concerts in Denver this week

There’s plenty to keep you busy this week. James Taylor brings his musical featherbed to Red Rocks for a couple nights, and Nas and Flying Lotus will headline Feed the Rocks right after that. The outdoor activities continue with the kickoff of both Sonic Bloom and Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Note…

The eleven best shows in Denver this weekend

Summer was underway. It was. But just in case you were waiting to roll down the windows and put away your sweaters, the Ink Monstr pool party series kicks off on Sunday. There are shows for those of us no interested in thigh exposure as well — Reckless Kelly is…

The ten rules of the mosh pit

By Jack Spencer In my years attending punk and metal shows, often as the only one with a pen and pad in the middle, I’ve noticed that there are a few unwritten rules when participating in a mosh pit. The seemingly amorphous fits of aggression that explode from the center…

Kobe An Shabu Shabu could start swishing this month

It’s been a long haul, but you soon may hear that swish-swish coming from Kobe An Shabu Shabu, the Japanese restaurant that’s transforming the LoHi building at 3400 Osage Street that once held Little Pepina’s. The deal was announced more than a year ago, and although Kobe An didn’t hit…

Photos: The art and people of Fantasia at Rhinoceropolis

Arts commune Rhinoceropolis turned into a wonderland of video, performance, music and art landscapes over the weekend for the two-day Fantasia festival. Fifty years ago they called this sort of thing a “happening,” and photographer Brandon Marshall was there to catch all that happened. Here’s a taste; if you like…

Stop by the Office after a hard day at the office

Restaurant-hungry east Denver is about to get another option: The Office, which Hugh Evans is creating in the 5,000 square foot space that used to house the Denver Rodeo Nightclub. And with any luck, the sports bar/eatery/music venue will start pouring by the start of the World Cup. See also:…

The 14 best concerts in Denver this week: June 9 to June 12

It’s the kind of week where we’ve got fourteen recommendations below and we’ll be spending this introduction talking about the ones we had to leave off: Tech N9ne is in town again/still in town, playing in Colorado Springs. Greater Than Collective’s Social Club at Lannie’s Clocktower has its June installment…

Photos: First Friday on Santa Fe Drive

June means more sunshine, better weather and evening throngs in the streets on First Friday, especially in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe, where the whole stretch becomes a living art installation — and everyone’s a part of it. Photographer Danielle Lirette was there to document the district-wide street party;…

Name this drink and win two tickets to Do at the Zoo

Come up with the best name for this year’s Do at the Zoo’s specialty drink, and you could win two tickets to the June 19 party, a 25th anniversary celebration featuring food from more than sixty restaurants, live music and a menagerie of cocktails. We’ll drink to that — and…

The twelve best concerts in Denver this weekend

It’s a good one, folks: KS 107.5 FM’s Summer Jam brings hip-hop royalty to Englewood tonight, and most of the people there will probably be capping off their weekends with The Fray at Red Rocks on Sunday. There’s more: Dragondeer, subject of this week’s Backbeat feature, will release its long-awaited…