Legendary grindcore band Pig Destroyer is co-headlining the Denver Black Sky festival with Skinless at the Gothic Theatre on Saturday, December 5. Based out of Alexandria, Virginia, Pig Destroyer began in 1997 when vocalist J.R. Hayes, formerly of Enemy Soil, and guitarist Scott Hull, formerly of Anal Cunt and Agoraphobic…
It’s no secret on a global scale that ever since recreational cannabis became legalized, people started flooding to Denver, and the city experienced a huge influx of culture, industry and innovation. With this came new musical movements, subcultures and events, and one that has gotten a big boost is metal…
The Elephant Revival has morphed over the years into this region’s most warm and fuzzy feel-good bands. When considering metro Denver isn’t short on folk bands, that’s no mean feat. It’s no dig either; the Nederland troupe has that mournful, mildly gothic (without the Cure makeup) quality that many country…
It wasn’t that long ago that the Devil Makes Three was playing venues like the Walnut Room and Shakey Graves was playing the hi-dive. Now the two acts are so big that they can co-headline Rocks on Friday, May 27. Tickets ($39.75-$44.75) go on sale on Friday, December 4 at…
The third and final installment of High Plains Underground Archives’ series on Denver music reunion shows, features Warlock Pinchers. These days it is very easy to find out about local bands if you make even a small amount of effort. But back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, this was…
Slow Magic makes another appearance in Colorado at the Gothic Theatre on Thursday, December 3, with like-minded electronic pop artists Giraffage, Lindsay Lowend and Bollywood Life. Performing in a costume and striking mask, Slow Magic aims to direct the audience’s attention to the music and the show’s visual art. The mask…
Leighton Peterson, frontman for Safe Boating Is No Accident and Jessie Rehms, a Denver University law student, want to help Syrian refugees. Rehms has experience working with refugees, and Peterson has his band, so together the couple has decided to host “Syrian Sock Hop,” a benefit show on Sunday, December…
The day after famed keyboardist Ikey Owens passed away in October 2014, a song came to Rubedo vocalist Kyle Gray. Owens produced every Rubedo album, and was like a brother and honorary bandmate to the Denver trio — constantly providing connections, companionship and words of wisdom. Gray, overcome by grief,…
Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz’s website to see more of his work…
Tacocat’s web address is tacocatdotcom.com. Tacocat’s name is a lighthearted palindrome. While these initial details might seem silly, they reveal much about the irreverent humor and lateral thinking that underpin the band’s creative work. “Everybody that uses Tacocat on the Internet uses it for [something fairly silly], so we had…
“It’s always the right time to do the wrong thing,” Nikki Lane sings at the outset of All or Nothin’, her latest album — a rousing blend of classic country, roots music and category-defying ass-kicking produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. And Lane, who headlines the Bluebird Theater on Sunday, December 6, carries…
“I was basically a DIY punk kid, but doing it through hip-hop music,” says Travis Egedy, aka Pictureplane, about his early days of making music. “It had the same energy and intelligence and sent the same type of message, and I was really into that.” Born in Santa Fe, Egedy…
New York-bred MC Homeboy Sandman is a lyricist that has gained praise from all walks of life in the hip-hop community. He is a lyricist’s lyricist — writing raps that are intelligent and to the point, with instantly recognizable wit, oozing from clever one-liners that stick out like a Magic…
It was a great summer for independent hip-hop in Denver and beyond, with more venues opening their doors to the genre, and creativity in the rap world reaching new highs. Riding those highs, Kaipran Promotions will present a show celebrating independent performers called “Legends in the Making” on December 5…
This week’s picks include Kid Cudi at the Fillmore, Lights and the Mowgli’s at the Ogden, the Bad Plus Joshua Redman at the Boulder Theater and HEALTH at the Larimer Lounge. See the full list of our picks below. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30 Kid Cudi $49.50/$55, 7 p.m. Fillmore Auditorium All…
Let’s be real: New Year’s Eve sucks. You plan for weeks, trying to find the hot spot to plunge into the new year — or at least to drown last year in a vat of cheap champagne. And let’s not mention the time spent wrangling your friends to pay you…
The Fluid is the focus of High Plains Underground Archive’s second installment on Denver music reunion shows. To start at the beginning: Matt Bischoff and Ricky Kulwicki had been members of the Aurora, Colorado-based Frantix, a great punk band with irreverent humor and incredible energy, which became known for its classic single in…
This weekend’s line-up includes A. Tom Collins two-night album release at the hi-dive, Warren Haynes’s two-night stand at the Ogden and Leftover Salmon’s release of its new live album with two nights at the Boulder Theater. There’s also a celebration of the life and music of Mike Herrera, who passed…
Gravy is Thanksgiving culinary staple, a condiment loved for its rich, smooth, flavor. And shouldn’t your holiday soundtrack be as mellow and funky as the gravy on your potatoes? We’ve got you covered. Compiled for your listening pleasure, we present ten soul-jazz morsels that combine soulful blues inflections and a…
Happy Thanksgiving, Denver! Westword is technically closed today, but we here at Backbeat understand you need something to read while you’re sitting at the table, avoiding political conversations with your family and checking your phone today. Give thanks and plan ahead: here are this week’s new concert announcements. Journey and…
Pop-rocker John Mayer fronting a band featuring three of the four surviving members of the Grateful Dead may sound like an odd, even off-putting, endeavor. But 50 years after the Dead started playing LSD-soaked improvisational electric blues at pizza shops in what’s now Facebook and Apple territory south of San…
Riot Fest may have found a place to settle. For the first time since its Denver debut, Riot Fest & Rodeo will return to the same venue two years in a row. Early bird tickets went on sale Tuesday morning for the punk-centric music festival, which happens September 2-4, 2016,…
