Music

The sold-out tribute to Prince at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Thursday, May 12 will start at 7 p.m. (doors at 6:15 p.m.). The event, in addition to the screening of Purple Rain, will feature a poetry performance, ten bands performing one or two Prince songs each, plus a finale including Heavy…

The mainstream press seems to go out of its way to pigeonhole bands by insisting every town has its own unique sound. One year the “Austin sound” is the hottest thing going. Twelve months later critics are declaring Austin dead. The new essential music has the “San Diego sound” so…

Not long after Tortoise wrapped up its tour for 2009’s Beacon of Ancestorship, the post-rock quintet was commissioned by the its hometown of Chicago to write music inspired by the city’s jazz and improvised music communities. In 2010, Tortoise’s twentieth anniversary, the group performed the piece in Chicago’s Millennium Park…

Any city worth its salt has an amazing art scene, and any art scene worth taking notice of has a tight-knit artistic community. Taking that logic up another notch, an artistic community that wants to be taken seriously needs a place to meet, to exchange ideas and to bounce off…

Both BØRNS and Explosions in the Sky are in town for two-night stands this week while Tortoise, Har Mar Superstar, Franki Valli and Tori Kelly are also on tap this week, and the Denver Uke Fest kicks off on Thursday. See the full list of our picks below.  MONDAY, MAY 9…

Last weekend, troubadour Chris Stapleton was pandering to the crowd. “We should get some Colorado weed,” he said before the stage was blasted with green light and the band launched into “Might As Well Get Stoned.” He didn’t need to pander, considering that the new country heavyweight more than sold…

It’s safe to say we all deal with varying levels of distraction in 2016. This is how distracted I was when I walked into my appointment at Infinite Space Bodywork and Resonance Therapy: After the owner/operator let me in the door, I fell down the stairs and skinned my knee…

Yes, the tribute to Prince at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, happening Thursday, May 12, is definitely sold out. But check out this lineup of local all-stars who will perform as part of a musical celebration of the pop icon before the screening of Purple Rain at dusk.  The show will begin…

JJ Grey & Mofro and the Infamous Stringdusters  are at Red Rocks tonight while Barry Manilow kicks off a two-night stand at Bellco Theatre tonight. Chris Stapleton plays his second show at the Fillmore tonight, and Bob Mould Band is at the Boulder Theater on Saturday. Denver native Judy Collins…

Jam bands. Historically, Coloradan music fans just can’t get enough of them. Whether it’s the groups who approach the genre from the past through the lenses of bluegrass or roots, or the contemporary and experimenting with electronica, there’s a good chance that their skills will find welcoming audiences here. Red…

Is there anything that screams “1970s hard rock” more than the sound of a Hammond organ? It’s the use of that instrument, plus some mighty big riffs and singer Suzanne’s huge voice, that makes Space in Time sound so epic in a classic Deep Purple/Black Sabbath/Jethro Tull/insert-your-own-’70s-rockers way. The band…

Dolly Parton headlines Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Wednesday, July 27 as part of her first major North American tour in 25 years. Part is also set to release her double-disc, Pure & Simple with Dolly’s Biggest Hits, this summer. Tickets ($49.50-$129.50) go on sale on Friday, May 6 at 10 a.m.  In…

Courtney Barnett has cancelled her scheduled appearance at the Project Pabst music festival, happening  Saturday, May 21, in the RiNo district. The Grammy- and Brit-Award-nominated Australian rock musician was one of the most anticipated acts on the announced lineup for the one-day festival, but Barnett recently received an offer she…

Where you see lawnmower storage space, John Baxter sees a stage. The man behind ZetaKaye House and This Ain’t No Cowtown Compilation was in search of a home for his next event somewhere in the Arts District on Santa Fe — unsure at the time what it might become —…

AndersonPonty Band is the musical partnership of two giants of progressive rock: Jon Anderson the former singer for Yes and Jean-Luc Ponty, the legendary violinist who played with Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa. The two men met more than thirty years ago and discussed working together for years, but it…

Pop. That’s a word that seems to inadvertently water down the expected quality of music because it implies its entrance into the mainstream. I’m here to say, wild and poignant pop still exists, and the 1975 personifies it. These talented musicians from Wilmslow, Cheshire, England have accrued a cult fanbase…

Seattle doom band Hissing opened last night’s Sunn O))) show at the Gothic Theatre, and the band did its level best to create a menacing, atmospheric set. Montreal-based noise-rock band Big Brave reconciled Robin Wattie’s Björk-like warble with eruptive rhythms and slashing double guitars. And both acts were not short…

Amalie Bruun began Mykur as a solo black metal project in her hometown of Copenhagen, Denmark. For her 2014 debut EP, she did all the vocals and played all the guitar and bass with a friend playing drums. When that self-titled EP came out, there was some mystery surrounding its…

Local rock scenes are thriving in Denver and Fort Collins. Earlier this month, the eighth-annual Ft. Collins Music eXperiment festival featured exciting Colorado bands in venues all over town, and Denver, which will soon host UMS and the Westword Music Showcase, has exciting local rock bands playing across the city…