Music

Riot Fest will return for its third year in Colorado from August 28 to 30 at the National Western Complex. The Chicago-born punk rock carnival has quickly established itself as one of the largest music festivals here, drawing thousands for an array of bands best described as “loud.” The fest…

The party hadn’t gestated yet for MTHDS’ early set, and that was too bad: the band jounced through cheerful dance-rock tunes like it was playing for thousands, though it was more like tens, and the little crowd bobbed listlessly, sluggish and not yet primed. A dude in purple pants chugged…

Electric Daisy Carnival is such a massive assault on the senses that, after the dust has settled (mostly in one’s lungs), it can be hard to pick out the highlights and lowlights. We’re still processing everything we heard and saw out there on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but here…

It’s easy to make friends when you wear pasties at EDC. I would know. I did it over the weekend. I didn’t plan for this to happen. When I packed for the festival, I chose regular clothes—shorts, tank tops, a sundress. You see, I’m not a raver and I’d never…

Most artists performing at Red Rocks comment on the elevation, but not Ben Folds. Instead, he grumbled over the weekend about the unusual humidity and how it made his hair horrible. “I need to go back down and get some oxygen on it,” he added with a grin, earning quite…

This year we’re covering Electric Forest for the first time. Why? Because it’s quietly become the most beloved electronic-music festival in the country, that’s why. Starting on Thursday and running through Sunday, the fest is relatively small and off the beaten path, located in a little-known part of the country…

Over 100 of the best Colorado bands and artists (plus a few notable out-of-towners) crowded onto fifteen stages in the Golden Triangle on June 20 for the 21st Westword Music Showcase: our annual celebration of Denver’s music scene. To mark the occasion of our festival reaching drinking age, we asked…

A few hours before Electric Daisy Carnival opens on Friday, Carl Cox sits near the pool at the Flamingo Hotel, ready to explain why he has remained so interested in electronic music after decades of DJing, producing and remixing. He pauses mid-sentence and motions towards the DJ booth in the…

This year’s Westword Music Showcase brought thousands of Denver music fans to the Golden Triangle, and they did a remarkable job documenting the 100-plus bands. There probably isn’t a better way to relive the chaos than by scrolling through the #westwordshow entries on social media — we picked out a…

It’s Friday night at EDC Las Vegas, and at the Circuit Grounds stage, as is the custom at all of today’s EDM events, the crowd is facing the DJ booth. There, high above the tightly packed dance floor, a Russian DJ named Arty builds the music to a frenetic crescendo,…

It’s easy to think that the Denver music scene is small and insular. If you go to enough local shows, you start to expect to see the same people at every one, and suddenly you find yourself staring at a bartender one night, unsure if you recognize him because you…

Over 100 of the best Colorado bands and artists (plus a few notable out-of-towners) crowded onto fifteen stages in the Golden Triangle on June 20 for the 21st Westword Music Showcase: our annual celebration of Denver’s music scene. To mark the occasion of our festival reaching drinking age, we asked…

Join us on Saturday, June 20, 2015, for the 21st Westword Music Showcase, featuring Flume, The Black Angels, MisterWives, Robert DeLong, Wave Racer, Roadkill Ghost Choir plus more than 100 local bands and artists. And now, you can start planning your day with the full schedule! The Showcase is a…

The 2015 Westword Showcase is so close we can almost hear it. If you’re new to Denver or just new to this particular festival, we understand that the enormous schedule can seem more overwhelming than exciting. But by following just a few simple pieces of advice, you, too, can be…

Part of what makes Denver’s music scene remarkable is the connections between artists — which means continual collaboration and cross-promotion among hundreds of talented musicians. We asked some of the artists on this year’s Showcase lineup to name their favorite Denver band and tell us the reason for their choice…

There’s a better way to enjoy music than getting into a narrow range of music in your teens through your mid-twenties and checking out, figuring nothing new has anything to offer you. Even those bands you get into during those years likely came from somewhere and had a stage of…

Wave Racer (a.k.a. Tom Purcell) has come a long way since getting a controller and a basic version of Ableton Live five years ago. Appearing at the Westword Music Showcase this Saturday, June 20, at 2:40 p.m., the prolific producer early worked with a sample-based approach to composition and made…

Anklepants will make a rare Colorado appearance at Glob this Friday, June 19, alongside Killd By, Lanx Borealis, Julien and Trisicloplox. The solo project of Reecard Farché, Anklepants is an amalgamation of Farché’s interest in electronic music going back to the late ’90s, as well as his background in making…

For Alex Maas, frontman of the Austin-based psych rock act the Black Angels, music is really important — it’s an amazing, magical thing, and he says it transcends religion and language and its healing properties are undeniable. “But you have to step away from it to realize how amazing it…

Colorado weather gave it a rest Wednesday night allowing a show to take place at Red Rocks Amphitheatre without the accompaniment of torrential rainstorms. That said, there still was a victim in this scenario, a victim of love, Mr. Charles Bradley. Bradley opened the showcase for Belle & Sebastian, starting…

Preparation is key if you want to get the most out of the Westword Music Showcase — but it also helps if you’re going to be alone on a deserted island. To give you an idea of the company you’ll be keeping at this year’s Showcase, we asked some of…