Best Music Festival for Local Bands 2024 | Underground Music Showcase | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Music Festival for Local Bands

Underground Music Showcase

The UMS has been a beacon for bands in the metro area since its inception in 2001. Taking over a strip of Broadway, the multi-day festival brings together the best in both local music and up-and-coming national acts, at favorite venues such as the hi-dive, HQ, the Roxy and the Skylark Lounge, as well as the festival's own outdoor stages, all at an affordable price. This is where you can say you saw a band before it got big, and who doesn't love having a little bit of that indie clout?

undergroundmusicshowcase.com

Best Secret Concerts

SoFar Sounds

You won't know who you're seeing, and you won't know where, but the mystery is part of the allure of buying a ticket to a SoFar Sounds show. The international concert company launched in London in 2009 and landed in Denver five years later. Community-oriented, SoFar often partners with local organizations such as the Dream Create Inspire Tour, Music Minds Matter and Colorado Public Radio. After performing with SoFar here, local artists such as Covenhoven and Dzirae Gold have performed in some of the company's other cities. SoFar artists are paid 70 percent of the concert's net profit, and we love it when an international organization really puts its money where its mouth is. Whether the show is in a yoga studio or a backyard, SoFar is so good.

sofarsounds.com

Best Grateful Dead Tribute Band and Event

Drums and Space

The tribute band Drums and Space doesn't just play the Grateful Dead's music; it brings the whole Shakedown Street experience to wherever it performs. Band founder Eric West (guitar/vocals) says it's like the "jam band circus," complete with vendors, face painters, drum circles, flow artists and more. It's about bringing the culture together, and the band itself is a gem, too, with West being joined by Jay Rowe (keys), Chris Rose (drums), Scott Headley (percussion) and Travis Daudert (lead guitar/vocals), along with special lights from engineer Travis Lamb. The band aims to play a couple of shows per month through the summer and early fall, with outdoor performances that will really bring the lot experience together. Follow the band on social media to learn about upcoming shows.

facebook.com/drumsandspace

Best New Hip-Hop Event

Hip-Hop Summit

The inaugural Hip-Hop Summit just took place at the end of March, and we already can't wait for next year's show. Presented by Colorado Street Art and Moods R&B, the event was created by Jarred De Palo, BJ Quarles and Adam Clark and held at ABC Imaging on Kalamath Street. The place was abuzz with energy, with graffiti artists live-painting on the outside and beats and breakdancing on the inside while people perused an exhibit of graffiti photography from New York and Colorado and a pop-up shop of streetwear by Culture Street. A mini-skatepark for fingerboards hosted by Th!s Project and an open-mic cypher rounded out the festivities. It was like a renegade block party the founders remembered from hip-hop's '90s heyday — but as this event proved, it's all still happening in the present.

Best Hip-Hop Album

The Wolf & The Social Club
Ason Yugen

Last June was the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop, and we can't think of an album that better reflects the culture's roots than Denver-based Ason Yugen's The Wolf & The Social Club. Each of the eighteen tracks encourages repeat listens, with pristine beats and Yugen's buttery, emotive flow. Inspired by the way social media has impacted society, it's a concept album that looks at social media as an alternate universe; from opening track "Login" to "The Portal," listeners are placed in the real world, until the track "Algorithm" launches them into an otherworldly journey. A philosophical reflection on tech coupled with classic, sometimes jazzy beats? More, please.

apple.com
open.spotify.com

Best Flow

She Who Won't Be Named

She Who Won't Be Named is the MC of the Beats Bodega hip-hop event at River Bar. And it's impossible to forget her after you hear her quick and witty flow. While it's always a wild time at Beats Bodega, the artist gets reflective on her 2023 EP, Time to Change (released on Bandcamp). We hear her look back on her Southern roots in "Flower Child From Memphis" and witness her charismatic drive in "Light Shines ft J.Seuss"; she's intimate and encouraging on "Sweetly," sharing how creativity and a positive, open attitude can take you far. A lot of rappers have a tight flow, but when it's paired with lyrical talent, that takes it to the next level. She Who Won't Be Named has that and more.

shewhowontbenamed,bandcamp.com

Best Hip-Hop Collab Music Video

"PLZ"
DNA Picasso and Malcolm Whyz3

As if the song "PLZ," a collaboration between rappers DNA Picasso and Malcolm Whyz3, didn't already pop off enough, the accompanying music video, with its high quality and visual variety, takes this creative collaboration even further. Malcolm Whyz3 entered the Denver hip-hop scene in 2019 with an emotional song about his grandmother's passing, making Westword's list of ten rappers to watch in 2023. DNA Picasso is also a mainstay in the city's rap scene, and we're hoping for more collaborations in the future between these two innovative musicians.

Best R&B Singles

Danae Simone

There's nothing like kicking back and putting on some R&B — and next time you do, be sure to add Danae Simone to your playlist. The singer-songwriter puts on a captivating live performance that includes both originals and covers, with vocals that will have you feeling like you're floating in the clouds. The romantic lyrics on her 2023 singles "Is This Love" and "Got Me" are completely relatable, and the songs wrap around listeners like a warm embrace. They're also both total earworms that will be playing in your head for days, begging you to press "play" once again.

danaesimonemusic.com

Best R&B Album

a fools tale.
Spinks

Spinks is a longstanding artist in the Mile High music scene, and her album a fools tale. has been a go-to listen since it dropped last April. Evocative of such artists as Lauryn Hill, Spinks's vocals make listeners melt with a steady vibe that enlightens and intoxicates. Standouts from the album include "last call" and "lights on," which both indicate that this is the perfect album for...we'll say "making love." Aside from the R&B, Spinks is a badass rapper, too: "This That New Flava in Ya Ear," from Above Average, is one of our favorites. Spinks will be dropping singles consistently this year, so save her on your streaming platforms ASAP.

@spinksmusic

Best Hip-Hop Label

Authentic 100 Entertainment

Authentic 100 Entertainment does it all, from recording, producing, mixing and mastering to promotion, merch and videography. A100 stands out for its roster of hip-hop releases as well as its BoxedIn TV series on YouTube, which interviews such artists as local rapper ReSrface, along with the concerts it produces around town at such venues as the Black Buzzard and the Rickhouse. The studio has another incentive: It just partnered with Native Roots, a move that should take your session to new heights.

@a100_recordingstudios

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