The 2016 Underground Music Showcase kicks off this Wednesday, July 27 at 3 Kings Tavern, with a performance from indie-rock band Whitney. The Chicago outfit began as a duo consisting of drummer/singer Julian Ehrlich and guitarist Max Kakacek. Ehrlich was an early member of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, having known UMO bassist Jake…
Less than a month from now, school will be back in session for most students and families across the country and the summer tourist season will wind to an end. If you’re expecting out-of-town guests during the last weeks of summer vacation — and we know you are because everybody…
It’s just before midnight on a Sunday, and I’m lying on the kitchen floor at the Corner Girls’ house. One room over, people are gathered in front of the TV to un-ironically watch Avril Lavigne music videos. Below me, Bourgeois Girl is finishing up recording for its upcoming EP in…
In the fading afternoon light, Joe Mekan sits near the entrance to Gathering of the Juggalos, smoking a Marlboro and watching his fellow Juggalos pour into the festival. He’s wearing a black tank top and black beanie; tattoos cover his arms, including a work-in-progress he’s doing himself, starting with a…
Emo gods never die. At least ones with the passion and musical talent of Andrew McMahon, who last night opened a show lineup in Denver that included Panic! at the Disco and Weezer at Fiddler’s Green. McMahon began playing piano at the age of nine and by the time he…
Every few years, a new band is declared the “New York band” of the moment. And yet, all rock bands who find themselves inextricably intertwined with New York are not necessarily linked to the same New York as those that came before. The Velvet Underground’s clique-y Warholian fantasyland was the not…
Dolly Parton headlines Red Rocks on Wednesday as part of her first major U.S. and Canadian tour in more than 25 years while Jose Gonzalez is at the Denver Botanic Gardens, Meghan Trainor is at Bellco Theatre, Warren G is at the Summit Music Hall and the Avett Brothers kick…
Go West, young Juggalo! Whoop whoop! According to a seminar held on Saturday, July 23, Insane Clown Posse confirmed that its annual festival, the Gathering of the Juggalos, will happen in Denver in 2017. The unique festival has taken place in various locations in the Midwest since its inception, including…
Itchy-O is perhaps one of the most intriguing musical groups in Denver. The 32-piece marching band is outfitted with all sorts of percussion, including a slew of snare, bass and taiko drums, as well as vocoders and guitars, all electrified to create a sonic experience that is unlike anything you’ve…
When you’re a newbie at Gathering of the Juggalos, one of the first things you realize is that you’re better off just announcing your first-timer status to everyone you meet. Gathering veterans love welcoming newcomers into their ranks, even those who openly admit to not identifying as Juggalos. If you’re…
Juggalos know how to hustle. At their annual Gathering, just about anything you could ever possibly need to have a good time, from drugs and booze to more, uh, creative fare, is available for purchase from wicked clowns advertising their wares via hand-lettered cardboard signs. Here’s a small sampling of…
This weekend’s answer to the music lovers’ prayer for a full dance floor is a band that makes pop music that’s not just a guilty pleasure. Amen, it’s Saint Motel, performing at the inaugural Divide Music Festival in Winter Park. Saint Motel is among the bands that have recently taken…
Benjamin Clementine emerged on stage at the Bluebird Theater last night, July 21, shirtless and shoeless, with only a suit jacket and pants covering his tall body. While fans might have expected this ensemble, Clementine offered elements of the unexpected in his set — most notably, his humor. He kept…
After two successful albums, the self-titled debut Miike Snow and follow-up Happy To You, Miike Snow’s fans weren’t expecting the “break-up” of the band in 2012. Recently the Swedish trio surprised and delighted fans with the unexpected release of third album iii, and the reunited group has been touring the U.S. The…
With the release of its debut full-length album Remain in 2015 on Dais Records, Them Are Us Too became an underground sensation for its darkly lush melodies and soaring vocals that recalled the likes of Cocteau Twins and Switchblade Symphony. The band formed in 2013, when Kennedy Ashlyn and Cash…
When Morgue Whore bassist Ted Anderson talks about the beginnings of his three-piece heavy-metal band, it becomes clear that the trio has always thrived on darkness and exclusion. “Metalheads are hard to find up in the ski country. It’s hippie-land,” Anderson says of Morgue Whore’s early days playing shows to…
The Divide Music Festival in Winter Park kicks off today, Friday, July 22, and runs through Sunday, July 24, with a lineup that includes Blondie, Cake, Cold War Kids, Bleachers, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, the Fray, Kid Cudi and more. Keith Urban and Maren Morris at Fiddler’s Green…
Of all the ways I thought I would be describing my first Gathering of the Juggalos, “like my first rave” was not on the short list. But after less than 24 hours among the fans of Insane Clown Posse, that’s how I’m feeling. It’s like I’ve traveled back in time…
Neil Young and the Promise of the Real will perform two special shows in Telluride Town Park on Friday, September 30, and Saturday, October 1, 2016. These shows mark Young’s only stop in Colorado this summer — and the first time he has performed in Telluride. This fact is surprising,…
A blizzard nixed the original date of this They Might Be Giants show on March 23, 2016 at the Gothic Theatre. But John Flansburgh and John Linnell seemed pleased, even excited, about the change in venue to the Ogden Theatre. At least that was one of many jokes that the…
Venues and live shows often serve as the laboratory of music, opportunities for artists to probe and prod the merits of new songs and measure their effects upon a test group: the audience. Small venues have always been great for this role, because musicians can focus in on a limited…
Megadeth brings its Dystopia World Tour to the 1STBANK Center on Saturday, October 1 with guests Amon Amarth, Metal Church and Havok. Tickets ($35-$50) go on sale on Friday, July 22 at 10 a.m. Garbage, who released Strange Little Birds last month, headline the Fillmore Auditorium on Thursday, September 15 with Cigarettes…
