The Fourteen Best Shows in Denver This Weekend

Once again, we bring you a selection of live music events happening in or around Denver, selected not completely randomly from the many excellent choices. Go out and watch some bands. It’s good for the body and soul. See also: Denver’s Ten Best Small Venues…

Support From Denver Helped Residual Kid Attract a Massive Label Deal

Denver is a music haven, there’s no debating it. The city is constantly referred to when people talk about vibrant music scenes and collaborative spirits, and is full of some damn good artists. It even has more venues than “live music capital of the world” Austin, TX. The benefit of…

Photos: The Misfits Bring Family Fun to Summit Music Hall

The Misfits may not have Glen Danzig anymore, but Jerry Only manages alright with a re-formed version of the band, which brought out a wide array of horror-movie punk fans to Summit Music Hall last night. Photographer Eric Gruneisen was there to capture smiles and scowls alike. See also: Ten…

Pop Music Needs to Become Political Again

Woody GuthrieLike it or not, Pharell Williams’ “Happy” is likely to be the top-selling single of 2014. And, yes, its buoyant ’60s soul vibe and simple, positive message is modern pop perfection. But scanning the rest of this year’s biggest hits, one is struck by a consistent theme: All of…

The Ten Most Underrated Guitarists in the History of Rock

While traveling from Denver to Texas a few weeks ago, I could not stop listening to Mutiny on the Bay, the searing collection of ’80s Dead Kennedys performances released in 2001; East Bay Ray, it occurred to me, is one of the most underrated guitarists in the history of rock…

Banshee Tree Is Willing to Give Up Running Water to Play Music

As Banshee Tree, Kalyn Pembridge and Thomas LaFond make a surprisingly original and enticing mix of gypsy jazz, folk pop and swing. They moved to Colorado from upstate New York four years ago, and can be seen seemingly every night of the week along the Front Range, playing a mix…

49 of the Hi-Dive’s Most Unbelievable Shows

This weekend, the hi-dive is celebrating eleven years of existence, with two years under its current ownership. When the club opened for business in the old location of 7 South and Quixote’s True Blue, it represented a sea change in places where one could see original, underground music. In its…

Rufus Baxter Is on the Road to Love and Riches

[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an ’80s 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. Last Week’s Episode Of Rufus Baxter…

Halloween Was the Best Weekend for Live Music in Colorado

Colorado is a pretty great place to be a music fan. Denver has more music venues than Austin, and several of them are among the busiest in the world. People living here spend twice as much as the national average on music. The local scene is experiencing unprecedented success. All…

DeVotchKa Is the Perfect Halloween Band

The tone for DeVotchKa’s annual Halloween celebration was set as soon as I walked into the Boulder Theater behind a tall man with a tall, faux-bug-light apparatus attached to his head. The Boulder Theater has a capacity of 850, a far cry from the 9,500 that can fit into Red…

No One Plays Guitar Like Adrian Belew

Before Adrian Belew, who’s due at the Boulder Theater on Tuesday, November 4, performed and recorded with King Crimson, David Bowie and the Talking Heads, Nine Inch Nails and a slew of other artists, the adventurous guitarist spent a year working with Frank Zappa. Belew sees that year between 1977…