Slim Cessna’s Auto Club Rang in 2015 With a Gothic Sermon

In a New Year’s concert filled with country-gothic murder ballads and tent-revival doomsday sermons, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club singer Munly Munly put on the creepiest performance of the night. Duded up in all black, Munly played the slightly unhinged sidekick to Slim Cessna’s country preacher on Wednesday, stalking around the…

Ten Ways Decadence NYE Is Like a Carnival

Decadence, a two night electronic music festival at the Colorado Convention Center, has grown into a New Year’s Eve tradition in Denver in recent years. About fifty DJs take one of four stages over the two nights, but the music is only part of the “Decadence experience.” With dancers on…

The 31 Best Colorado Albums of 2014

So active and vibrant are the musicians of Colorado that we could never truly compile a list of the year’s best releases. There were simply too many, from big-label full-lengths by exports like Tennis to obscure demo tapes by nascent punk bands. Taken as a whole, the musical output of…

Ten of the Best Colorado Music Videos of 2014

As artists find more and more creative ways to deliver their music to fans, music videos have left MTV (left it completely, in fact) and become the territory of local creative communities. The medium is much richer for it, as tons of clips produced this year in Colorado prove. A…

Anvil, John Doe, Nicholas Payton Shows Announced

Maybe you’ve seen the documentary on Anvil, the Canadian metal band that formed in 1978 and reportedly influenced bands like Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica. The Independent Spirit Award-winning documentary The Story of Anvil helped bring the band out of near obscurity after founding members Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner…

The Delusions of a Hair Metal Guitarist

[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an 80’s rocker on a road trip through his past with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work in his new book YOUTH IS WASTED. • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST HITS •- 50…

Why Strings & Wood Concerts Are More Than Just Concerts

Attending a five-year anniversary party, you naturally have some expectations. You expect, as you walk down the steps to the Soiled Dove Underground, to find an air of celebration. People doing shots at the bar. Friends hugging. A raucous, excited crowd chatting away as a enthusiastic performer plays on stage…

D Note’s January 3 Closing Will Leave a Hole in Olde Town Arvada

In early 2013, the D Note in Olde Town Arvada celebrated its tenth anniversary with a two-night party. The evening also marked the changing of hands of the restaurant/music venue, as Dave and Mernie Rosenberg bought the space from the DeGraff family. Now, nearly two years after taking over the…

Video: Ian Cooke on TEDxMileHigh

Ian Cooke is a Denver treasure, a musician whose lengthy career here has proven him as talented as he is creative. The cellist and band leader has always been an ambitious writer, but he took his story telling to new levels with “Cassowary & Fruit Bat,” a song with an…

Five Signs You Might Be a Shitty Rapper

Bettina Braun/FlickrWiggity wiggity wiggity wack.Ever since dance music decided to overdose on molly, the only respectable alternative for pop music lovers is hip-hop. With that said, we’re sorry, hip-hop, but we have to start holding you to a higher standard. You don’t want to end up like EDM, do you?…

Mouth House Was Among a Dying Breed of DIY Venues in Denver

Mouth House, located at 2858 California Street, was host to the most eclectic shows in the DIY circuit. From 2011 to 2013, it had a festival called Festibowl that included comedy and the kind of music you weren’t going to often find playing in bars or more commercial venues. It…

Shut Up, Dave Grohl

I write a lot about the women who have inspired me to make art — but there are dudes in this mix, too. Steve Albini’s stance on music as an industry, Kurt Cobain’s feminism, Henry Rollins’ staunch ethos on life as a musician, Mike Watt’s positive attitude and workhorse musicianship…

The Twelve Best Shows in Colorado Over the Holidays

Here’s a list of good shows in America’s Greatest State this week. We’ve called this period of time “the holidays” in the headline up there, but we realize why that might be confusing/misleading. Here are the holidays we’re specifically referring to (in chronological order): The final day of Chanukah, Christmas…