The Six Best Beers Inspired by Colorado Bands

Collaborations between breweries and bands are nothing new. But with the explosion of craft breweries in the Denver area, this year has brought an unprecedented number of band-themed beers. With the Great American Beer Festival in town, we thought this would be the perfect time to explore six of those…

Kraftwerk Has the Most Visually Compelling Show in Popular Music

Utilizing the modern methods of 3D video seen to great effect in recent movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Kraftwerk turned what were already interesting visuals perfectly suited to each song into something almost interactive and unlike anything any other popular band is doing…

Every New Colorado Concert Announcement

The Richard Thompson Trio headlines the Boulder Theater on Thursday, November 19, and Thompson will open the show with a short acoustic set. Tickets ($29.50-$39.50) go on sale on Friday, September 25 at 10 a.m.  Joe Satriani brings “Surfing to Shockwave” 2016 Retrospective Tour, which spotlights the guitarist’s thirty year…

Denver Black Sky III Lineup Includes Hardcore Legend Ringworm

The 2015 iteration of Denver Black Sky festival looks to be a monster, with the announcement that Cleveland hardcore legends Ringworm will play the annual event alongside metal heavyweights Pig Destroyer and Skinless. The December 5 show at Englewood’s Gothic Theater will also feature some heavy hitters Havok, In The…

The Most Essential Songs About Colorado: Part One

Colorado inspires an incredible amount of songs, some of them great. Colorado-themed songs range from gentle acoustic tributes to hip-hop narratives, heavy-metal disses to poignant country ballads. The earliest non-Native American songs crafted here were cowboy tunes such as “The Colorado Trail” and instrumentals like the pioneer fiddle melody “Coming…

A Guide and Schedule For the First Larimer Block Party This Weekend

The Larimer Block Party debuts this Saturday, September 26, at the 2700 block of Larimer Street (both outside and in several venues). Running from 1 p.m. to 2 a.m., the event will feature musical acts on five stages at Cold Crush, Larimer Lounge, Meadowlark Bar, Meadowlark Kitchen and an outdoor…

Gregory Alan Isakov Has a Sheep Named T-Swift

Our sister paper in New York, the Village Voice, has a great story about Colorado’s Gregory Alan Isakov. In it, writer Dacey Orr talks to Isakov about his career trajectory, songwriting style and, yes, his sheep, T-Swift (“We love Taylor Swift. Everybody does.”). It’s one of the inhabitants of the…

Kraftwerk Helped Shape Pop Music as We Know It

Kraftwerk is currently on its 3D Concert tour of North America, with a stop planned for the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on Wednesday, September 23. The multi-media show includes a performance of the music with 3D video accompaniment. The combination of a tactile experience and modern technology fits perfectly with…

An Illustrated History of Larimer Lounge: A “RiNo” Original

Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. This week, he talked to Larimer Lounge Manager Bart Dahl and Marketing Director Brianna Hernandez to learn more about one of RiNo’s longest-running music venues. Visit…

Curt Heiner Captured What’s Left of Undiscovered Denver at Goldrush 2015

There were so many fine performances during both days of Goldrush Music Festival at the Savoy Events Center, it would be difficult to pick a towering standout. Despite the wide array of genres represented, the festival managed to feel like one, big cohesive experience. The accompanying ‘zine and cassette compilation…

The Nine Best Concerts in Colorado This Week

It’s another good week for music in Denver — be sure to catch the 303 Choir with Danielle Ate the Sandwich at the King Center tonight. Elsewhere, Best Coast plays the Bluebird, Kraftwerk at Ellie Caulkins and more. See the rest of our picks below.  MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 Best Coast…

Why Cloak & Dagger Is More Than Just Another EDM Festival

Going back to the days of early raves in the ’80s or even as far back as “happenings” in San Francisco, strong and creative visuals have been an important component of the concert experience. Every EDM show worth attending has rich, unusual and creative light shows and projections. So it…

How Skylab XXI Is Still Finding Ways to Push the Dance Music Envelope

Skylab 2015 will take place September 18 and Saturday September 19 at the 1STBANK Center. One of the longest, continuously running electronic dance music festivals in the country, Skylab has reflected the current state of the scene since its 1994 debut. In past years, legendary artists such as Rabbit In…

How the Knew Learned to Stop Worrying

The Knew will celebrate its new record, Schmew, with a release show at Ratio Brewery on Saturday, September 19. The band will be playing alongside Wheelchair Sports Camp, High Plains Honky and DJ Clark Continental. For the last ten years, The Knew has been developing the kind of rock music…